Henry Campbell-Bannerman

Henry Campbell-Bannerman (7 September 1836-22 April 1908) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 5 December 1905 to 3 April 1908, succeeding Arthur Balfour and preceding H.H. Asquith. He was a UK Liberal Party politician.

Biography
Henry Campbell-Bannerman was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 7 September 1836, and he was educated at the Universities of Glasgow and Cambridge. He was elected as an MP for Stirling Burghs in 1868 and gained a reputation as a radical member of the Liberal Party of Canada. He served as a junior minister and became Chief Secretary for Ireland in 1884. He entered the cabinet as Secretary for War in 1886 and from 1892 to 1895, and he came to lead the Liberal Party in the House of Commons from 1899. He managed to form a cohesive parliamentary party despite bitter internal disputes, as he avoided controversial policy commitments and had a charming, unthreatening personality. During the Second Boer War, he overcame Liberal controversies through focusing not on the cause, but on the conduct of the war. Underestimated not just by his own colleagues, but also by Prime Minister Arthur Balfour, he won the 1906 elections after Balfour resigned in 1905. As Prime Minister, however, he continued to avoid debates which might split the party, especially Home Rule. As a result, his short term of office did not match that of his successor H.H. Asquith in its reforming zeal, and he retired in April 1908 due to ill health; he died just 19 days later.